A video in which members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) show off an armored “narco-tank” apparently seized from a rival criminal organization has surfaced on social media.
The video shows an armored vehicle emblazoned with the CJNG initials towing a homemade tank, which was seized from the Viagras crime gang in the Tierra Caliente region of Michoacán, according to local media reports.
Six heavily-armed men and one women ride on the stolen tank as it is paraded in broad daylight down a street in El Aguaje, a town in the municipality of Aguililla.
“Another little gift,” one of the men says, while other cartel members declare that they are “pura gente del señor Mencho,” or “only Mencho’s people.”
El Mencho is the nickname of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, the fugitive leader of the CJNG and Mexico’s most wanted drug lord.
#CirculaEnRedes#Michoacán
Integrantes del #CJNG se pasean en vehículo blindado hechizo que habrían arrebatado a “Los viagras” en la zona de #TierraCaliente pic.twitter.com/uujHRoj9X8— Meganoticias Zamora (@MeganoticiasZAM) March 2, 2021
The CJNG, widely considered Mexico’s most powerful and dangerous criminal organization, frequently makes videos to show off its vast firepower. One posted online last July showed some 75 masked gunmen alongside a long convoy of armored vehicles.
The Jalisco cartel is involved in vicious turf wars with other criminal organizations in different parts of Mexico including the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel in Guanajuato and the Viagras in Michoacán.
The CJNG has recently gone on an offensive in Michoacán’s Tierra Caliente, attacking several towns in the region. Just last week, a drone captured footage of 11 armored CJNG vehicles moving into the municipality of Tecaltepec, which borders Aguililla, from nearby communities in Jalisco.
According to local media reports, the cartel is attempting to capture or kill Juan José Farías, allegedly a criminal/self-defense force leader known as El Abuelo (The Grandfather) who heads up the eponymous Cartel del Abuelo.
Michoacán was Mexico’s sixth most violent state in 2020 in terms of the number of homicides. The only states with more murders were Guanajuato, Baja California, México state, Chihuahua and Jalisco.
Armored vehicles similar to those that appear in the new cartel video have been seen previously in Michoacán and other parts of the country. Just over a year ago, the army seized a “narco-tank” in Michoacán nicknamed “El Monstruo” (The Monster) that allegedly belonged to the Viagras. Another “monster” was found by community police in Guerrero in 2019.
